Radical smog check overhaul proposed

In a major revamp of California's Smog Check program, regulators want to rely on readings from the onboard computers in 1996 and newer vehicles and forgo the current tailpipe emissions test.

Reed Fujii

In a major revamp of California's Smog Check program, regulators want to rely on readings from the onboard computers in 1996 and newer vehicles and forgo the current tailpipe emissions test.

Older models known to be heavy polluters would be directed to the most highly rated testing stations.

The changes would save consumers time and money while further reducing smog-producing emissions, officials of the state Air Resources Board and Bureau of Automotive Repair said Tuesday.

Representatives of smog shops, however, criticized the proposed legislation as overly vague and said the change might pass cars that actually violate smog standards.

"We can reduce the cost of inspections to consumers," said Tom Cackette, the air board's chief deputy executive, during a morning teleconference. "We can get more emissions reductions."

Besides setting new test procedures, the legislation would increase fines for improper inspections; allow the state to contract with franchise-like chains of independently owned Smog Check stations; evaluate test stations using roadside vehicle checks; and encourage development of technician training programs.

Cackette said the improvements could reduce vehicle emissions by up to 70 tons a day statewide, quite an improvement on a Smog Check program that is credited with removing 400 tons of pollutants from California's air each day.

"We don't need the exhaust test to determine what the status of the emissions of the car is," he said. With 1996 and new cars accounting for three of four vehicles now on the road, Cackette said, "We'll get just as good of an inspection. ... It will happen faster."

But the new technology may not be entirely reliable, said Pete Campas, a technician at Abbetter Smog in Lodi.

He often checks both the onboard computer and the tailpipe exhaust, and sometimes the results don't jibe.

"Everything would be OK electronically, but the emissions could be wrong," he said. "I think the best thing is to check the emissions to make sure they stay below the required standards."

She also criticized the legislation, drafted by state regulators and carried by Assemblyman Mike Eng, D-Monterey Park, as being too vague, leaving vital details to be set through a follow-on regulatory process.

"It sounds really promising, but you can't say, because you can't get the information to evaluate," Ward said.

That makes the future uncertain for the state's 7,000 small-business owners and 15,000 technicians involved in the Smog Check industry, especially the 2,000 or so test-only shops represented by Ward's association.

At this point, you don't' need more regulatory uncertainty; you don't' need any more legislative uncertainty," she said.

Another industry representative, however, generally welcomed the change.

"There are opportunities here," said Dennis DeCota, executive director of the California Service Station and Automotive Repair Association. "There are opportunities to help consumers as well as the industry."

While agreeing that onboard diagnostics in pre-2000 vehicles are problematic, newer systems are very reliable, he said.

The current Smog Check system needs reform, DeCota said.

"Right now, we operate under, quite frankly, a lot of ambiguity," he said. "It has to be modernized."